Changing the Real Estate Dance?

The real estate industry has never exactly been a fast changing field. There are plenty of good reasons for that. After all, buying a home, especially your first, is a huge investment of time and money. For many of us, it will be by far the most expensive purchase we will ever experience. This makes the familiarity of the process something of a security blanket for both buyers and sellers. Going outside the box can be terrifying and even become a very costly mistake if it goes bad. But for the right seller (or buyer), sometimes using lateral thinking can be the very thing to max out their potential gains.

Cut out the middle man? One of the most daunting prospects a home seller can face is making the decision to sell directly to the buyer. After all, having a realtor is often seen as worth paying the commission. Selling any home can be a full time job, and can be difficult without the support and network that comes with a professional agent. But there are also tons of resources out there to fall back on if you decide to save yourself the fee. Ultimately you have to ask, what’s more important to me, my time or money? If you find that you are able to move houses quickly, the answer might very well be money.

Marketing. No even ten years ago, the best way to get the word out about your house was through the print media. Whether through home brochure, newspaper ad and listing, flyers, or local home magazine, you had to have the printed word in front of all your potential buyers’ face to have any chance of reaching them. Today is different, and the future will be even more so. People look for houses online now, more every day. This is the easiest way for you to get your listing out there. Most listing sites are free to post at. Don’t scoff at Craigslist either. Virtually every established agency utilizes that site for a reason.

Use the Blank Slate. Going it on your own can be scary because one look at your “professional” competition and you’ll very quickly feel like David vs Goliath. But keep in mind who won that fight! Yes, they may have sold a lot of homes in the past, and yes, you cannot match their experience or resources… yet! But you are also much more flexible in deciding what strategies and techniques you can employ to get the job done. You are smaller, and that CAN be an advantage.